a sudden change in plan: the g-8 summit is now heading to the woods of maryland but the nato summit is still going to come to chicago ... good afternoon i'm steve sanders >>and i'm dina bair we welcome our viewers who are watching us around the country on wgn america and on the internet tunney francisco is live from city hall with the top story >>no one here at city hall seems to know why president obama decided to yank the g-8 summit from chicago >>he made the call to do this

himself saying he wanted a more intimate setting to facilitate a free-flowing discussion with the other members ... the g-8 summits are rarely held in big cities in favor of more closed settings where security is controllable ... >>no one got advanced warning here in this city ... >>this was a national security event we need to bear that in mind run by the white house who made the final decision ... >>the alderman said he is hearing sighs of relief from his constituents ... with the nato summit remaining there will only be two days to contend with the

raucous ... that will be may 20th-21st here in chicago >>gov. pat quinn has downplaying this decision for the move he said that the nato summit still presents the state with an opportunity >>there are 28 countries and 40 partners of nato ... australia as part of nato and happens to be the fourth largest trading partner for our state this is a great opportunity for interaction ... the change in venue could have impact on local businesses and randi belisomo as live from michigan avenue with that story >>the city's host committee is maintaining that holding the

nato summit is just as big of a production as holding both ... the business leaders were hoping for a boost but the downtown workers believe they just avoided a headache >>the announcement from the white house to move the g-8 summit to camp david comes two months ahead of the planned back-to-back meetings this could put a dent in the potential benefit to chicago's business climate but the convention and tourism bureau maintains that the nato summit on the 20th and 21st of may will be the highest profile meeting that the city has ever hosted >>the restaurants will be filled the stores will be patronized there will be lots happening at the cultural institutions with all of these great visitors coming to chicago the host committee is spending

this white house decision as a positive they believe the loss of the g-8 summit will have minimal impact >>you will still have a large number of international media here to cover a very important international meeting for nato there are many ancillary events and activities associated with this conference >>it is hoped that the burden of congested and will be light and in the downtown area this man said he spent concerned about getting to his job located at chestnut and this woman commutes every day to the water tower >>the trains are typically congested so this will be easier and it's one less thing to worry about in my commuting >>this man works for the chicago public library >>you just never know how the protesters will react in seattle they tore apart that city while on earth would we want something

like that here in chicago the it would be a mass i used to take the train to ogilvy and i had trouble getting around >>that man said he did know how he would of got into his job on north lakeshore and he's not sure of his office policy is still in effect for just a nato summit >>they spoke about closing our office for the entire week that would be great >>businesses can see this as a blow but the manager of the hyatt said that the ryder cup is coming to town and the nato summit is still a very big deal and there are lots of opportunities and me to rally behind our great police department and local commerce here in the city >>many have complained about the lack of international attention that chicago has been receiving there will still have >>

today is the busiest day have in the 2012 presidential race when 400 delegates in 10 states are its stake in super tuesday primaries and caucuses mitt romney has momentum going into super tuesday. >>this is the fifth state in a row where we are victorious ... >>mitt romney is hoping to break away from his rivals this evening >>rick santorum has not had a win for nearly one month that he believes his a fighting chance in one of the most important contests: ohio >>i know all of the established people are lining up behind the guy with the most money ... >>romney and rick santorum are neck and neck in tennessee and

in a statistical dead heat in ohio and new king bridge sees georgia as the most important ... >>i will bring the current policy of procrastination toward iran to an end ... i will not fullyt hesitate to fully implement the sanctions and restrictions >>it's an opportunity to prove that they have foreign-policy credentials to take on president obama in november >>rick santorum and newt gingrich will not be on the virginia ballot since they failed to collect the necessary signatures in time ...

>>president obama is expected to unveil a new program to help americans have hard by the housing crisis. he will announce the mortgage plan at his first formal news conference since last year. the president's remarks are scheduled to begin in a few minutes we will bring you that live forever from the white house ... >>also had a chicago police officer convicted in the hit- and-run death of a teenager is in court today plus emergency team help with the cleanup after a series of deadly tornadoes in the midwest and a beautiful afternoon to go outside tom skilling will have the full forecast

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fema and other emergency teams are assisting in clean up and recovery efforts in downstate illinois and the other states that were involved in last week's tournedos ... >>friends and family gathered to remember the life of 14 month old angel babcock the toddler found in an illinois field who suffered severe head injuries and was taken off life-support sunday the other members of her family had perished in the tournedos their ... >>tom skilling has an update on the forecast >>it will be the first day of 60 degree temperatures ... we have reached 60 degrees at o'hare airport. it is currently 72

degrees in st. louis ... we are up more than 30 degrees in 24 hours! thanks in part to powerhouse wind that is costing it 40 mi. per hour across about a thousand miles of the united states ... we have a wind advisory in effect here in chicago through 630 this evening ... we are looking at all the 40 plus miles per hour wind gusts around the chicago metropolitan area ... warm temperatures across this metro area with beautiful sunshine but that will change tomorrow we will still have

another day of 60 degrees but the skies will get over cast ... from arizona to florida there will be heavy wind and some red flags alerts ... there is concern for wildfires and when stormswindstorms.. wind advisories for the chicago area ... we have unseasonable dave grohl likeapril like weather.. we are waiting for the news conference at the white house we

will have that and

right now the president is addressing reporters in his first news conference of this year ... >>we clearly have seen positive economic news over the last few months. businesses have created 3.7 million new jobs in the last two years. manufacturers are

eyeing for the first time since the 1990's ... confidence is up and the economy is getting stronger but there are still millions of americans who cannot find a job ... millions more are having a tough time making mortgage or rent payments and paying for gasoline and groceries. our job in washington is not to stand in the way or sit back and do nothing we have to do everything we can to speed up the economic engine ... congress has prevented a tax hike on working americans this year it was a good first step but it's not enough they cannot stop there to wait for the next election ... there are few things congress can do right now to make a real difference in people's lives ... this congress

should once and for all and tax breaks for companies shipping jobs overseas and reward those who create jobs here in the united states ... i have proposals on the table that do just this is no reason why congress cannot act >>they can also rule on tax reform the vast majority of americans see this as a common sense ... finally this congress should give every responsible homeowner a chance to save $3,000 a year by refinancing the mortgages hysterically low rates with no runaround from the banks and no red tape ... if you have done the right thing and acted responsibly you should have a chance to save that money on your home payments to build up

equity or put more money in the pocket ... this would make a huge difference for millions of american families ... if congress refuses to act and will continue to do everything in my power to act without them ... last fall we announced an initiative that allowed millions to refinance at lower interest rates today we're taking one step further we're cutting more than one half the refinancing for a that people pay for loans financed by the fha that will save people an extra thousand dollars a year on top of savings they get from refinancing that will make it more attractive to more families may be another tax cut affect ... we are also taking series of

steps to reward a homeowner's family who have made the sacrifice to serve this country ... the actions of mortgage lenders and unscrupulous banks have not help them either >>if you are a member of the armed forces whose home was wrongfully foreclosed, you will be substantially compensated for what the bank did to you and your family. if you are a member of the armed forces with high interest rate to was wrongfully denied a chance to lower this whorl you work in active service the bank will be refunding you the money you save with a significant penalty

reimbursement ... some of this money will also go into a fund that will guarantee loans for favorable terms to veterans ... there will be protections for every man and woman who is serving this country in harm's way ... no amount of money will make it right for a family who has had a piece of this american dream taken away from them by no fault of their own ... this is not something the government by itself could solve ... i am not a person who believes that we should wait for the housing market to hit bottom. there are things now that can be done to make a difference in the lives of these innocent responsible

homeowners ... it's true in many different areas to ensure that this recovery touches as many lives as possible. i will do everything i can to make this progress >>i will take some questions now: >>a less than one year ago muammar gadhafi gave a speech saying that he was governor ryle opponents from their bedrooms and shoot them to believe that's justification for the no fly action over libya and now in syria people believe you should begin airstrikes and in iran mitt romney 14 to say that iran will develop a bomb that will

change the world >>let's begin with iran: when i came to office, the country was unified making substantial progress on its nuclear program and the world was divided on how to deal ... what we have been able to do was to administer crippling sanctions on that country and mobilize. iran is filling bite of the sanctions and a substantial way they're politically isolated. i have said before we will not tolerate iran having a nuclear weapon my job is to prevent this we do not want to trigger an arms race in the region and would undermine non- proliferation goals we have been

in close consultation with allies and with israel and moving forward at this stage it's my belief we have a window of opportunity where this can be resolved diplomatically it's not just my view it's also the view of the top intelligence officials in this country as well as those in israel ... as a consequence we will continue to apply pressure even as we provide a door for the iranian regime to walk through and rejoin the community of nations. there will have to give assurances that their meeting their obligations in not pursuing nuclear weaponry ... that's my track record. what is set on the campaign trail those folks don't have a lot of responsibilities right now they're not commander-in-chief.

when i see the casualness with which some of these candidates discuss war, i am reminded of the cost involved in war. i'm reminded of the decision that i must make in terms of sending men and women into battle from this country and the impact it would have on national security and on their individual lives and the impact will have on our economy ... this is no game there's nothing casual in this discussion. when i see some of these candidates who speak with lots of big bluster when u.s., there would do in the situation it turns out they're repeat the things we've been doing of the last three years if you listen carefully ... it indicates to me it's more about politicking than

solving the tough problems. we've not launched a war. if some of these people think that it is time to launch a war that ought to say so and explain why to the american people there would do that and with the consequences would be. anything else is just talk. and with respect to syria: what is happening there is heartbreaking and outrageous and the international community has mobilized against the regime is not a question of when the sheer sod leavesassad leaves.. what he is done to his own people is inexcusable and we have a unified voice in the world community when it comes to his regime. but if we

were to take action ... well any unilateral movement right now or any action would be a mistake. there is a security council mandate and it has the full cooperation of the regional bordering arab states ... and it can be executed effectively in a short period of time it's a much more complicated situation and we've seen before ... hillary clinton was in tunisia we are getting the arab states and others to come together to support the opposition and provide humanitarian assistance and continued political isolation for that the sod

regimassad reginme we will continue to work on this project with other countries. this dictator will fall as those in the past half. the notionave. the notion that the way to solve these problems is to rapidly deploy our military was never true in the past and will not be true now. we must think through what we do in terms of effectiveness and critical for our national security interest >>what kind of insurance is to do if benjamin netanyahu about the role united states would play if diplomacy and economic sanctions fail to work or

convince the iranians to change their behavior and if israel goes far in striking at nuclear facilities ... should we not be having a vigorous debate in this country about what could happen in a way that we said we did not do before going into iraq? >>for those who are beating the drums of war they need to explain to the american people the cost and benefit analysis. i believe we have a window in which we can resolve this issue peacefully. we have put forward an international framework that is applying unprecedented pressure. the iranians have stated their willing to return to the negotiating table and as we maintain the pressure we have

an opportunity to see how this will play out ... i'm not going into details of my conversations with prime minister netanyahu but i will assess what i have said privately elsewhere. israel is a sovereign nation to make its own decisions to how best deal with its security i am deeply mindful of the historical precedents that way on any prime minister of that nation when they believe there are potential threats to the jewish homeland. what i have also said is that because sanctions are starting to have significant effect inside of iran and it's not just my assessment ... because there will be tougher in the coming months because they're now starting to affect the oil industry and the central bank

there, and they are making noise about coming back to the negotiating table ... is deeply in everyone's interest including the united states israel and the rest of the world to see if this can be resolved in a peaceful way. this notion that somehow we have a choice to make in the next week or two weeks or one month is not borne out by the facts as they exist now the argument we have made it to the israelis is that we made an on precedenunprecedented commitment to their security with an unbreakable bond between our two countries ... but we need to get to the best approach to achieve this common goal about iran ...

it's not just about israeli interests or the consequences for them if action is taken prematurely their consequences for the united states as well ... i do believe that any time we consider military action, the american people must understand that there will be a price to pay. sometimes it is necessary but we do not approach this casually. when i visit walter reed or signed letters to families whose loved ones have not come home from war i am reminded that there is a cost that we bear ... we do not play politics. when we have done so in the past it gets wrapped up

in politics and it makes mistakes. it's not the adversary who pays the price alone. we must take a careful far fallen sober approach to what is a real problem that's what we've been doing over the last few years it's what i intend to keep doing. >>we have israel's back what does this mean? >>has starkly we have always cooperated with israel with respect to the defense of the nation to stick to the whole range of other allies justice we do with great britain and japan. that broad statement is confirmed when you look at what

we have done over the last few years ... think of those missiles that rained down on israel and the border areas there affecting their civilian population ... we were not playing out a military doctrine for a particular military action we have restated our consistent position that the security of israel is something that i deeply care about. and the deeds of my administration of these last few years confirms this ... >>mr. president with the news this morning that the united states and its allies may be

returning to the table with iran more than one year after they broke down in frustration is this their last chance the iranians ... to negotiate the nuclear question .... three years ago in a similar one on one with the prime minister of israel is said by the end of 2009 you consider whether iran was negotiating in good faith and you said at the time that we would not be able to have talks forever so you're three years later ... is this it? do you think you'd be here after all of that? >>there's no doubt of the last three years when i ran has engaged in negotiations there has been stalling and avoidance of issues in ways that the

international community has concluded were not serious. and, my expectations given the consequences of inaction for them ... the severe sanctions that are now being applied and the huge told it will take on their economy and the degree of isolation that they are feeling right now unprecedented isolation ... they must understand that the world community means business. to resolve this issue will require a iran to come to the table and discuss in a clear and forthright way out to prove to the international community that the intentions of their nuclear program are peaceful. they know how to do that. this is not a mystery. and so will be

very important to ensure that on an issue such as this one there are complexities gas to be methodical ... i don't expect a breakthrough in any first meeting but we will have a good sense quickly about how serious they are by resolving the issue. and there are specific steps that can take to send that signal to the international community that are verifiable. that would allow them to be in compliance with international norms and international mandates ... abiding by the proliferation treaties and assuring the world that they are not constructing these nuclear

weapons and many treasures their moving in that direction >>deca mr. president wanted to follow up on iran and israel, you say you have their back but yet you have not visited israel ... and newark' you've expressed all this talk about driving the gasoline prices ... there has been talk on the part of the critics that you have been driving this to force alternative energy measures in this country >>@ henry, do you really believe this makes sense that i would do something like this at all law alone in an election year? >>my feeling is this i want

americans to no longer have to suffer from the high cost of gasoline. it's not good for the overall economy people are living between the margins right now ... consumer spending will be pulling back and we're in the midst of a recovery that is starting to build up steam and we want to reverse this ... level set about gasoline prices is that there is no silver bullet and he will solve this problem over the medium and long term is within all of the above strategy that says will increase production which has happened we are going to make sure that we are considering anergy that's why we have doubled up on

fuel efficiency standards for automobiles sitting trillions of dollars for this country ... taking billions of barrels of oil offline ... and we will develop clean energy technologies that will continue the progress in using less oil >>it's the first time in a decade that our imports were below 50% and they are continuing to go down and we will explore every strategy possible to maintain our living standards and productivity and economic growth while we reduce our dependence on foreign oil and ensure that consumers are not hurt by this. there are short-term steps we are exploring such as bottlenecks in refinery production around the

country of concern ... and world production as well not just what's in the gulf ... the situation in sudan it's restricting supply ... were to look at lots of measures ... we're looking at a task force is examining speculation in the oil markets and we go through this every year for the last 30. if we will be competitive and successful as a nation and protect our people over the long term we need to make sure that we have a set of options that reduces the overall dependence on oil. with respect to is rail

i am not the first president to has been unable because of a whole range of issues to visit israel as president and a first term. i visited that country twice as u.s. senator and once before becoming president. the measure of my commitment to that country is not measured by a single visit. my commitment to israel is seen in the actions that have taken as the president of this country and it is indisputable that i have had their back over the last three years >>mr. president to believe the rush limbaugh apology to the georgetown law student is genuine ... and are you in agreement with those dropping in not supporting were sponsoring his show ... and you think the

somali distasteful or provocative statements on the part of some of a liberal media is appropriate ... >>i don't think i'm gonna comment on the economics or the politics or the sponsorship or the sincerity of the rush limbaugh apology or programming. all decent folks can agree that the remarks that were made do not have a place in the public discourse. the reason i called that student is because i thought about my two young girls and some of the things that i want them to do as they get older is to be able to speak

their mind in a civil and thoughtful way about the issues they care about and i don't want to see them get attacked or called horrible names because they are being good citizens whether i agree with their position on issues or not ... and i want to that student to know that i thought her parents ought to be proud of her. we want that message sent to all of our young people. being part of a democracy involves argument and disagreement and debate and we won you to be engaged and there is a way to do this that does not involvede being demeaned or insulted particularly as a private citizen. >>mr. president house

democrats have said that republicans seem to be engaged in a war on women. some republicans say that the democrats are engaged in a war for the women's vote. you talk about war in a different arena ... but you agree with the chair of the democratic national committee that there is a war on women on the part of the republicans? >>here's what i think: women will make up their own mind in this election about who is advancing the issues that they care most deeply about. one of the things i have learned being

married to our first lady is that i don't have to tell her what she believes is important. there are millions of strong women around this country who will make their own determination about a whole range of issues ... will not be narrowly focused on contraception or one statement by a particular radio announcer. it will be driven by what will enable him to support their families make their mortgage payments and who has a plan to secure the middle-class over the long haul and what will result in competitive educational opportunities for their children i believe the democrats have a much better story to tell to women about how we will solidify the middle

class and grow this economy to ensure everyone has a fair shot and that everyone does their fair share and that there are a fair set of rules that everyone should follow. i am not someone who believes that women will be single issue voters say never have been ... i do believe the democrats have a strong story to tell when it comes to women. as you know if i get into the business of arbitrating ... i'm going to lead by example in this situation as opposed to commenting on every single remark that is made by either pundits or politicians i need to have the time to do my job i will leave it to you folks in the media >>thank you mr. president polls

are showing that latino voters seem to be favoring your reelection over any republican alternative yet some are still disappointed or upset about the progress made or not made on it immigration reform. if you are reelected what will be your strategy that will be different in this area particularly if the majorities in congress do not change >>every american should want immigration reform. it is a broken system here. we have a system where you have millions of families in this country living in the shadows worry about deportation. you have american workers that are being

undercut because undocumented workers can be hired and the minimum wage law may not be observed overtime law may not be observed you have incredibly talented people who want to start business in this country or work here ... and we should want these people in the united states but right now the legal immigration system is so tangled up that becomes difficult for them to set roots down. we could be a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants it's not just a hispanic issue this is a unilateral american issue. when i came to office i said i would push to get this done we did not in this first term and the reason being ... what used to be a bipartisan agreement that we should fix this ended up

becoming a partisan issue. i give lots of credit to my predecessor george w. bush and his political advisers who said this should not be something the democrats alone support the republicans also support thus it was good buys back then and it remains to be good device, it's my hope that the latino community in the selection sends a strong message that they want a bipartisan effort to pass comprehensive immigration reform that involves making sure we have tough border security and this administration has done more for border security that just about anyone and we are making sure that companies are not able to take advantage of the undocumented workers ... with strong laws in place. and that

there is a path so that all of those folks whose kids are often u.s. citizens by birth working with us living with us and in our community not breaking a law trying to do their best have a chance to be a fuller participating part of their community. we will be putting forth as we've done before a framework a proposal legislation that can move us ball forward and get it done. walt willey i cannot vote for the republicans there will have to do is come to the conclusion that this is for the country and something they themselves believe it is

important based on the votes putting congress together we will see how we get it done >> >>mr. president today is super tuesday can you weigh in on some of your potential opponents ... mitt romney says hope is not a foreign policy and he says that you are the most feckless president since jimmy carter what would you say to mitt romney >>good luck tonight. really. >>my question is about moving the g-8 summit from chicago to

camp david one of the reasons given was that you want a more intimate setting ... what do you know that you did not know when you initially booked in chicago and where role does a security threat plan this decision >>keep in mind that we still have the nato summit going on in chicago wheat try to attach the two said that leaders did not have traveled twice ... we combined the two in france last year and we will again in this country this time. i must say that the idea was brought to me after the initial organizing of the nativesnato summit.. it was brought

to my attention that some of these leaders were not brought to camp david as of yet ... it's a less formal setting where we can talk about wired ranges of issues and the thinking was some of these leaders would enjoy being in a more casual backdrop. i believe that the weather should be good this time of the year and it would give me a chance to get to know vladimir putin a bit more and spend time with some of the others more closely. i had no doubt chicago could have handled things. whether it be lollapalooza or doubles championships in no crowd control there and i am certain your new mayor in chicago will be quite attentive

to detail to ensure everything goes off very well >>this is the last question: when the nato leaders gather in may do you think they can agree on a transitional strategy and are you concerned about that incident of the holy books burning at bob rumer basekoran burnings @ bagram airfield >>we want a full transition so that the combat role of the united states is over by 2014 the coalition partners have agreed to this they're sticking with it continues to beat the plan. what will now be doing

over the next two years and at the nato meeting is to ensure that the transition has bounc benchmarks and steps taken along the way similar to the way the role reduction we had going an iraq is effective ... in terms of training of afghan forces and security. that situation with the burning of the koran concerns me it's an indication of the challenges we have an

environment and it's an indication that now's the time for us to transition. the violence directed at our people is unacceptable president hamid karzai acknowledged that much. but he is eager for more responsibility on the afghani side of things. we need to find a mechanism that the afghanis know that their sovereignty is being respected that they have a greater role in their security ... is in everyone's interest i am confident we can execute this but it will not be a smuts task there will be bumps alon the road as thereooth task there will

be bumps along the way as there were a in iraq. none of this stuff is easy it never has been. obviously, the most recent riots or protests against us were tragic but remember this happened when that pastor in florida threatened to burn a koran and it happened in iraq ... what i tried to do is to set a course to ensure that up and down the chain of command everyone knows what the broader strategy is. one of the incredible things about this military we have is that when they understand the objective and the goal regardless of the

obstacle to meet along the way they get that job done. president carter side understands thihamid karzai understands this we want to act accordingly we do not want to stay any longer than we need to and that there is sufficient stability with respect to their security and the minimization of adversaries. >>there are times when things to not look as smoothly as we would like but that's the deal on a range of international issues all the time. i would like to make another comment i would

like to publicly express condolences to the family of donald payne the congressman from new jersey he was a wonderful man he did great work domestically and internationally he was a friend of mine and my heart goes out to his family and to his colleagues in congress. >>the president answered questions on a wide range of issues the one we wanted to hear had to do with the transfer of the g-8 summit to camp david but he assured everyone that it was not for security reasons and that chicago would to a great job for the nato summit ... we will see this evening at five thank you for joining us